Bio Based Materials
Bio Based Materials
Storing carbon in construction products and building components is an effective strategy to delay emissions and gain carbon credits. Trees, and their derivative products, have been used by societies around the world for thousands of years. The increasing use of timber in construction suggests a growing interest in building with wood. However, the environmental benefits of using timber are not straightforward; although it is a natural product, a large amount of energy is used to dry and process it. This project focuses on the utilisation of biogenic carbon stored in fast-growing plants in construction materials. Ranging from agricultural waste to plant-based industrial by-products, the research combines materials engineering and life cycle assessment methods to develop building components with high-quality mechanical and thermal properties.
For example, we have used waste sugarcane bagasse (a by-product of sugar production) and hemp as bio-aggregates in the manufacture of ultra-low-carbon construction blocks with superior strength and thermal insulation capacity. These fast-growing plants provide some of the fastest CO2-to-biomass conversion available, more efficient than forestry and taking far less land. It is also possible to grow to 2 crops per year, so the stored carbon is doubled. The research is looking at incorporating other biomaterials including Typha and agricultural waste into the product system to demonstrate to practitioners how these materials can be relevant for the reduction of CO2 emissions.
Project collaborators
- Oluchukwu Okonkwo, Sugarcrete PhD student and researcher at UEL
- John Kerr, Vice President, Research & Technology, Tate & Lyle Sugars
- Nicolo Bencini, Senior Structural Engineer, AKTII
- Paul Nichols, FabLab Manager at UEL
- UEL MA Architecture students: Faith Omowunmi Ogundare, Busra Ciftci, Amy Gillespie, Hinal Arvindkumar Patel, Rova Taha, Dodangodagamage Kawan Roger Ranasinghe, Manoj Sai Ganji, Mohan Ukabhai Dungrani, Anca-Madalina Borda, Alina Klimenteva, Rashmi Madagamage Gunathilaka, Orseer Isreal Gbashah, Mahmoud Sayed Abdellattif, Mert Manas Erten, Hidayati Yazmin Binti Abdul Halim, Oluchukwu Judith Obiejesi, Svetoslav Georgie Slav, Mihriban Ustun, Sinan Aldulaymi, Francesco Stefan, Cristian Severin, Shushant Jadhav, Twinkle Shah, Jason Tshibangu, Dhanuj Basavenahlli Govinda Gowda, Megan Jones, Alina Obreja, Gideon Olufemi Oluwole-Wise